There is a continuous demand for increased accuracy in 0.22 caliber ammunition. In addition, there is a continuous demand, for consistent performance of such ammunition when fired within the gamut of the various guns which are utilized, and particularly in match competition. These guns vary in their construction and performance. There are variations in the dimensions of the chambers and in the barrels of guns manufactured by the same manufacturer, and even within those sold by a single manufacturer under a particular trademark. The problem is to build a cartridge which will perform accurately consistently in all of such guns, so as to permit universal usage of guns despite such variations.
We recognize that there are three primary causes of inaccuracies. These are inaccuracies caused in part at least, by the gun, the shooter, and the environment. For example, on windy days it is difficult for the shooter to hold the gun steady. Some shooters tend to pull the gun off target during firing. Wind gusts deflect the bullet off target and also affect the shooters. Each of these causes affects the degree of accuracy which can be reached. Our purpose is to minimize the error from each of them by expediting the movement of the bullet through the barrel and from the barrel to the target.
The period of time which elapses between the striking of the firing pin until the bullet leaves the barrel of the rifle is referred to, in the trade, as lock-time. We have succeeded in diminishing the lock-time so as to thereby increase the accuracy of the bullet. We have improved the ignition characteristics of the cartridge and have adjusted the physical characteristics of the bullet, so as to diminish the lock-time and diminish the adverse effects of the environment to thereby markedly improve the accuracy of the cartridge.
Match performance 0.22 caliber cartridges have typically been cartridges having velocities of approximately 1,070 feet per second. The prior art teaches that if accuracy is to be improved, the velocity of the bullet must be decreased. It can be shown, however, that it is possible to increase the accuracy of the 0.22 caliber bullet substantially while increasing the velocity to a level of 1,130 feet per second to 1,150 feet per second.
It is also known, of course, that the barrel of the rifle in which a 0.22 caliber cartridge is fired, and the air through which the bullet travels after the firing, both exert a drag upon the bullet. In the past a lubricant such as natural waxes (beeswax, for example), or an animal fat (lard, for example), or a mixture thereof have been utilized in an effort to minimize such drag. We have found that we can accomplish a shortening of the travel time and of the lock-time by applying to the bullet a different and synthetic lubricant in a different manner and in a different and lesser thickness. By so doing, we find that we have been able to substantially increase the accuracy of such bullets.